


Between Dreams

by Shiny_n_new



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon characters exploring AU worlds, Dreams, Jotun!Loki, M/M, Post-Avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-01-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 21:51:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/626900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiny_n_new/pseuds/Shiny_n_new
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the midst of escaping, Loki takes a peek inside of his brother's dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Nicevenn for this year's [AvengersFest](http://avengersfest.livejournal.com/) (and finally posted now on A03 because I am lazy).

Loki felt the hum of magic in the air, and a rather savage smirk curled across his lips. Well, well. This would be entertaining. He stretched out on his cot, letting his toes curl and his back arch, and he waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. The sound of two armor-clad bodies thumping to the ground outside his cell was hard to miss. With a laugh, he rolled out of bed and padded across the stone floor to peer through the bars. Sure enough, his two guards were sprawled across the floor, dead to the world. The snores coming from the biggest one indicated that they weren’t actually dead, though. He’d have to work fast.

By the time he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, Loki had already picked the lock on his cell and helped himself to the guards’ armor and weapons. He was just deciding the best angle of attack when a familiar voice rang out.

“If you stab me, Loki, it will put me in a terrible mood.”

“Amora,” Loki said, stepping out of the shadows. “This is a surprise.”

And it was. He and the sorceress had been cordial enough in the past, but they certainly weren’t allies, and Amora wasn’t the type to put herself at risk out of the goodness of her heart. She had an angle, and Loki was in no mood to be indebted to someone.

“No kiss hello?” Amora asked, stepping fully into the torchlight. Her green dress clung tightly to her, showing flashes of pale skin when she moved. She flicked a lock of bright blonde hair over her shoulder and smirked. “I’m hurt.”

“I assume I have you to thank for my liberation,” Loki said, jabbing one of the sleeping guards with the butt of his spear. “Did you have a plan for actually getting us out of the palace, though?”

“Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Amora said. “The rest of them have seen fit to take a nap as well.”

Interesting. Loki had spent his confinement thinking up a veritable spellbook of enchantments and charms he could use against Asgard (all for naught, of course, since his magic was blocked within his cell), but he had dismissed a sleeping spell early on. It seemed too…gentle, and Loki was not in the mood for gentle.

“So, what inspired this rescue?” Loki asked conversationally, leaning against pike that he’d taken from the guards.

Amora raised an eyebrow, a flicker of irritation crossing her face. “A rescue that you’re in no hurry to take advantage of, I notice.”

“I despise being indebted to someone, and I’ve got little interest in walking into a trap,” Loki said. “Who sent you and why?”

“Paranoia is an unattractive quality in royalty,” Amora said, hand against her heart like she’d been wounded.

“It’s hardly paranoia,” Loki said. “I’ve known cave trolls with more concern for the plight of their fellow creatures than you.”

“Not true,” Amora said, grinning toothily. “I’ve always been very interested in your brother’s plight.”

Loki’s scowl had mostly been for effect, but Amora’s words sent a spark of real anger through him. With a sneer, he asked, “Is that your name for it, then?”

Amora laughed, the sound bright and echoing in the stone dungeon. “Good to see your experiences haven’t dulled that jealousy in the slightest.”

Loki’s hands curled into fists and the urge to attack was strong. But he reigned himself in and just offered her a cold smile instead. “Thank you for reminding me.”

Then he vanished, only the bright green flash of his magic showing that he’d been there at all. It was _glorious_ to be able to use his abilities after so long in that cell. When Loki reappeared outside of Thor’s room, he gave a luxurious, bone cracking stretch just because he could. He felt rather smug, truth be told. Thor’s rooms were heavily warded against magic, and the only people who could use seidr inside of them were Odin and Loki. There was something slightly infuriating in knowing that even after everything that had happened, Thor still hadn’t revoked Loki’s visiting privileges. The giant dolt was probably anticipating a future where Loki happily danced to the All-father’s tune and they were one big, happy family again.

Idiot. Still, Loki’s irritation was mollified when he reminded himself that Amora was going to have to climb all the way up to Thor’s tower, her magic useless against the wards. It was nice to know that Loki could still get joy simply from irritating people.

The door to Thor’s room creaked open gently at Loki’s touch, and he peered around until he saw his brother collapsed in a heap by the window. He must have been awake when Amora’s spell hit the palace, even though it was just past the second hour of a new day. It wasn’t like Thor to have insomnia.

Loki planted a boot on his brother’s shoulder and turned him over, dropping to one knee by Thor once he was sprawled out on the floor. Thor’s eyelids were twitching, and occasionally his fingers twitched. He was clearly dreaming deeply, and Loki tilted his head curiously.

It was interesting to see Thor caught unaware, barefoot and without his armor. Once upon a time, it had been a completely normal occurrence, but things had changed. Thor never appeared before him looking anything but strong and infallible now, as if armor could protect him from Loki’s cutting words.

Thor’s hair was messy, flat and stuck to one cheek where he’d been slumped against the floor. He was in a soft gray shirt and loose pants, and there was something very vulnerable in the way his shirt was rucked up, exposing his stomach. Loki tugged it back down to cover him as he heard Amora’s footsteps coming up the hallway.

“You’re a horse’s ass, Loki,” Amora said, looking slightly flushed from the climb up the tower. “If you’re done fussing over your brother, we should go.”

“What spell did you use?” Loki asked, standing up and looking at Thor’s prone form.

Amora perched her hands on her hips. “Loki. I am not jesting. My employer is not a cheerful man, and this spell is not indefinite.”

“What spell is it?” Loki asked again, affecting an air of infinite patience and leaning back against the wall.

Amora’s hands curled into claws, but she didn’t move to attack him. “A spell for sleep, with a spell for dreaming to keep the mind occupied. I’d prefer your father not catch me. Speaking of which-”

“Dream spells are tenuous things,” Loki said, as if this were a casual conversation they were having over lunch. “Once someone realizes they’re dreaming, they are much more prone to fighting it and awakening. Not a very smart risk to take at all.”

Amora gave him a look that was half knowing and half irritated. “It’s a dream spell I created. It sends the dreamer from fantasy to nightmare and back again several times, to keep them disoriented. I find that it’s very effective, and now that your curiosity is satisfied, we need to go.”

“Hmm.” 

Amora apparently read something that she did not like in his tone. “ _Loki-_ ”

Loki settled cross-legged beside Thor’s head. “I’m going to take a peek inside my brother. It should only take a moment.”

That was the end of Amora’s patience, because she moved forward as if to grab him and physically drag him out of the room. Loki gestured sharply and a wall of light suddenly surrounding himself and Thor, bathing the room in an unearthly green glow.

“Exceptions to the no-magic rule are for family only,” Loki said, smirking toothily.

“Then why in Asgard are you still allowed it?” Amora asked sweetly.

That stung more than Loki had expected, a sudden, barbed reminder that he was nothing but a cuckoo who’d finally been thrown from the nest. He was willing to use that as a weapon against Thor and his parents, but having it wielded against him was distinctly unpleasant.

His irritation solidified his resolve. His comment about venturing inside Thor’s dreams had mostly been another way of irritating Amora and stalling for time as he tried to puzzle out who had ordered his rescue. But now he wanted it, both out of curiosity and to flaunt the power he still had in front of Amora. It wouldn’t do for either her or her employer to think that he was easily cowed. And it wouldn’t take long. Just enough time for Loki to gather his thoughts somewhere Amora couldn’t see.

And he would admit to quite a bit of curiosity about what Thor was dreaming about. His brother had become increasingly hard for Loki over the past months. What would his fantasies be? His nightmares?

“This shouldn’t take long,” Loki said, smiling his smarmiest smile before resting his fingers on Thor’s temples.

“I will leave you here to be caught,” Amora said, glaring.

Loki didn’t deign to respond, instead closing his eyes and letting his magic spill across his fingers. It was difficult to enter someone’s dreams without waking them; while the conscious mind might be susceptible to the whispers and suggestions of an outsider, the subconscious was far warier. But Amora’s sleep spell would take care of that. She was a skilled sorceress and her spells were some of the most potent in Asgard, not that Loki would ever tell her that.

Slipping into Thor’s mind was a strange experience. It was akin to going numb suddenly, all over his body, before falling into a cool stream. The rush of Thor’s mind overtook him and pulled him to the bottom as surely as any river would, but it wasn’t frightening. In fact, Loki felt himself relax. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring up at long rows of trees, heavy with ripe, golden apples.

Loki stared around the apple orchard in confusion. He wouldn’t have imagined that this would be the scene of Thor’s fantasies. Thor had liked Idunn’s orchard, yes, but they hadn’t been his favorite place in the palace, or even his favorite place in all the gardens. Loki picked his way between the trees cautiously, feeling paranoid. Now that he was actually in Thor’s mind, he wasn’t sure that this was a wise idea at all.

As he walked through the trees, things became a little clearer. This was not truly the apple orchard, but an amalgam of the various orchards and gardens that littered the palace grounds. He was suddenly amongst pear trees, their fruit hanging thick and heavy on the branches above him. Loki was tempted to reach up and grab one, bite into its skin and see if it tasted like it would in real life, but he was already an intruder in this dream. No sense in doing something that might jolt Thor closer to consciousness.

Another few strides and Loki was walking through a thick cloud of cherry blossoms, the delicate petals fluttering in the cool breeze. This garden could only exist in a dream world, although he was a little surprised that Thor’s mind had produced it. Still, he had to admit it was lovely. The fruit was always ready and ripe, no matter the season, and the flowers all bloomed at the same time.

He nearly stumbled over himself and Thor curled in one such patch of flowers. Loki recoiled away, but he was apparently little more than a shade in the dream. Neither his brother nor his dream-self took any notice of him. They were much too busy with each other.

The Loki and Thor of the dream were entwined, arms and legs tangling as they moved. Dream-Loki was atop Thor, his hands curled in golden hair as he tugged his brother upwards for a kiss. They were both shirtless, their armor and boots in a heap nearby and their trousers hanging loose and undone on their hips.

Loki swallowed roughly. He had not been expecting quite this kind of fantasy. And it was a fantasy, though one based in memory. He and Thor had snuck away to the orchards often when they were younger, seeking privacy the way all teenagers consumed with lust did. But they hadn’t bothered once they were adults and could guarantee a locked door and an absence of worried guardians.

Loki had never particular missed those outdoor trysts, since he sunburned easily and detested the lack of privacy. But Thor apparently did miss those days, and Loki wasn’t sure what to make of it. Especially given that Thor was rather shamelessly groping Dream-Loki’s ass. Loki rolled his eyes. Even in dreams, Thor was too handsy. But Dream-Loki didn’t seem to mind, since the way he was rolling his hips against Thor was obscene.

“I love you,” Thor murmured to Dream-Loki, looking up at him with pure adoration. Loki sneered. Dream-Loki laughed and leaned down to kiss Thor again.

Just as Loki started wondering if he was going to see a truly pornographic show, the world around them began to change. The sun lost its heat and the sky went the dark grey of storm clouds. The colors of the orchard turned similarly grey before the trees disappeared entirely. The smells of grass and flowers faded along with the plants themselves, and before Loki understood what was happening, he was standing in a featureless void without even the false versions of himself and his brother to keep him company.

Alarmed, Loki wondered if Thor might be waking up. But he hadn’t been ejected from Thor’s mind, which certainly would have happened if his brother was stirring. Instead, as Loki watched, the grey mass around him began to coalesce into shapes, as though he was approaching them through a dense fog.

Loki recalled Amora’s words about the dreams changing from nightmare to fantasy and back in order to confuse the mind and keep it from waking. Loki felt a sudden, savage fascination at the thought of seeing Thor’s nightmares. What would they look like? Where would Loki feature? 

(He did not doubt, even for a moment, that he would have some place in Thor’s nightmares. The only question was what place that would be.)

The flat, grey world around him burst into color suddenly, the landscape becoming a sea of dark blues and purples. Architecture began to form out of nothing, and Loki found himself in a long, dark room, full of tall columns that stretched up towards a vast, arching ceiling. But the columns weren’t stone. Loki felt a strange, sinking feeling in his stomach. The columns were ice. Everything in the room was carved from ice and rock.

Just like on Jotunheim.

Loki turned and jerked at the sight of a throne, carved from the same ice and rock that made up the room. A jotun sprawled across the throne, a gold circlet perched on its head. Loki thought it was Laufey at first, but no. This frost giant was too…small.

“Oh, you son of a whore,” Loki murmured.

The frost giant on the throne was _him_. It was hairless and naked aside from a loincloth, but it was most definitely Loki, indistinguishable from any other Jotun. Loki felt his stomach roll in revulsion and his hands curled into claws. How _dare_ Thor, how dare he take something so personal (so terrible) and make it into fodder for his idiotic nightmares? When he woke, Loki was going to-

There was a groan from the shadows beside the throne. Loki went still, because that groan was also terribly familiar. Loki the Jotun smirked, the expression looking particularly sinister with his red eyes, and said, “Are you troubled, Odinson?”

The Jotun tugged on a thin, golden chain that he’d wound lazily around his fist, and a shape tumbled out into the light. It took Loki a moment to realize that the shape was his brother. Thor was covered in bruises, blood, and a fine sheen of sweat. His hair had been shorn, leaving a rough, uneven inch of dark blonde fuzz on his head. The chain connected to a thick leather collar around his neck, and he bore matching leather cuffs around his wrists and ankles.

Loki felt a hot curl of lust in his stomach, followed by something curiously like self-loathing.

“Are you ready to yield?” Jotun Loki asked sweetly, reaching out to grab Thor by the chin and tilt his head up. 

Loki hissed in irritation. For all that Loki was fascinated by a bound and bloodied Thor, he felt disgusted at seeing a frost giant touching his brother so…possessively. It was possible that his views were not entirely rational or healthy, but Loki couldn’t help that.

“Never,” Thor snarled, doing his best to jerk away from the Jotun Loki. He must have been weakened, though, because the frost giant’s grip held firm. 

“Then I’ll put the Allfather under the lash again,” the Jotun said, smiling widely. “What a pity. I’m not sure he’ll survive it.”

Thor lashed out, driving his fist into Jotun Loki’s face. The frost giant’s response was swift, backhanding Thor so hard that he flew across the room and landed at Loki’s feet. The sound of bone cracking against rock echoed through the room, and Thor moaned in pain. Loki watched as Thor propped himself up and stared straight through Loki.

And then, quite suddenly, Thor blinked in surprise and was looking _at_ Loki.

“Brother?” Thor murmured, confusion written across his face.

The world began fading to grey, a sure sign that the nightmare was shifting back to fantasy. But instead of being unaware of it, Thor looked around in a panic before lunging towards Loki. Loki was so startled that he could do nothing besides gape at his brother, because this was not how walking through someone’s dream was supposed to work at all.

As the dream world collapsed back into a featureless plain, Thor gripped his brother’s arm tightly. It seemed to be half to hold on to Loki and half to hold himself up.

“I’m dreaming,” Thor said slowly, as if trying to reassure himself of it.

“Of course you are, now let me go,” Loki said, trying to tug himself away.

“But you’re real,” Thor said, digging his fingers into Loki’s arm. “You’re real. None of the dream-Lokis were real, none of them were right, but you’re real.” He paused, suspicion written plainly on his face. “Did…did you do this? Give me these dreams?”

“Not me,” Loki snapped, feeling panic rise up in him. It made him angry, made him want to lash out. “An ally. Maybe you’ll get to see your worst nightmare of me on the throne after all.”

Thor shook his head, staring at Loki in bafflement. He was still bloody, a bruise coloring one cheekbone a deep purple, but he seemed to be getting stronger. “I…the nightmare isn’t you on the throne.”

“Oh, then it’s me as a Jotun?” Loki spat. “A bit more understandable, I grant you, but I’m afraid that nightmare’s already come to fruition.”

Thor looked very tired, suddenly. “Loki, I cannot…I have no control over what my nightmares bring, but I am not afraid of what you really are.”

“You’re not nearly as talented a liar as I am, so don’t-”

“I fear you turning against me,” Thor said, like the admission pained him. “Against all of us.”

He let go of Loki suddenly, an expression of terrible sadness crossing his face. “But you are right. That nightmare has already happened.”

Loki could not summon any words, so he just sneered. There were a thousand things he could say to Thor’s gloomy pronouncement, but something about his brother’s obvious grief kept him mute. Old habits, perhaps.

“You’re escaping, aren’t you?” Thor asked suddenly. The world around them had remained grey much longer this time, and Loki wondered if Thor wasn’t waking up after all.

“That was the plan,” Loki said, trying for glibness. “After a small detour inside your thick skull.”

“Then go,” Thor said, looking tired and angry and hurt all in one. “Make your escape and just go, Loki. You certainly won’t be happy staying here.” 

When Loki did not react, Thor whirled to grab him. The world around them trembled as if the earth itself were shaking. “GO!”

And quite suddenly, Loki was no longer in his brother’s dream. He blinked several times, looking around Thor’s room and trying to understand what had happened. He had been forcibly ejected, it seemed. He looked down at his brother, still sleeping soundly. But Thor was twitching more, small movements and gasps that he hadn’t been making before. The spell was likely weakening.

Loki stood up, legs feeling curiously unsteady, and looked around for Amora. There was no sign of her, but he caught a greenish glow coming from the window. When he poked his head out, it was to find Amora perched on the window ledge, her magic keeping her anchored.

“Well, look who’s returned from the land of dreams,” Amora sneered, the moonlight highlighting the sharp angles of her face. “Are you ready to go?”

Loki stared at her for a long moment before looking back at Thor. His brother still lay dreaming, perhaps back in the orchard. Loki grabbed a small knife from the table and knelt beside Thor, winding a lock of hair around his fist before cutting it off carefully. He slipped it into his pocket so that Amora would not ask why he’d taken it.

Loki himself was not sure why he’d taken it. He did not want to think about it. He wanted to be gone.

Returning to the window, he offered Amora an insincere smile. “Let’s go.”

Hours later, Asgard would awaken to find that they had been the victims of some devious spell and that Prince Loki had escaped. Thor Odinson would awaken alone, not quite free from the grips of his nightmare.

Miles away, Loki lay down to sleep, a lock of his brother’s hair still clutched in his hand.


End file.
